Robert Saleh says he had no interest in being a DC for any team but 49ers

For four seasons, Robert Saleh was the 49ers’ defensive coordinator under head coach Kyle Shanahan. After middling results from 2017-2018, Saleh coached a dominant unit in 2019 that helped San Francisco reach Super Bowl LIV.

Now Saleh is back with the 49ers after a four-year stint as head coach of the Jets. He told reporters on Thursday that he had no interest in working for another team as DC.

"I have a tremendous amount of respect for this organization,” Saleh said, via Nick Wagoner of ESPN. “They gave me so much and during the first two years, if you think about those first two years as the coordinator in '17 and '18, it wasn't easy, and it could have been very easy for them to move on for me.

“I'm indebted to this organization, to those men for the rest of my life. They stuck with me and we made it happen. We did what we needed to do and the rest is history and I'm excited about the opportunity to get a chance to do it again with them.”

San Francisco ranked No. 2 in yards allowed and No. 8 in points allowed in 2019. New York finished No. 4 and No. 3 in yards allowed in Saleh’s final two full seasons as head coach.